A scheme at Bath Spa University to help reduce the number of disposable cups ending up in landfill has been hailed a success.
Ripley Hill-Nixon, Jane Martin and Jo Stocks | Photo © Bath Spa University
One year after introducing its reusable cup scheme, the university has significantly reduced its use of disposable cups and saved enough cups to stretch from the entrance of its Newton Park campus all the way to its Café Commons, just over one kilometre.
Bath Spa University (BSU) teamed up with environmental behaviour change specialists, City to Sea to run a pilot scheme to offer students, staff and visitors to its catering outlets a variety of sustainable options for their drinks; from sitting in and drinking from a mug, bringing a reusable cup from home, or borrowing a cup via the Refill app as part of City to Sea’s Refill Return Cup scheme.
After a successful pilot with the BSU community, the university has now removed single use cups from outlets across its campuses.
Ripley Hill-Nixon, Sustainability Manager at Bath Spa University, said: “The University community has proved its commitment to being more sustainable with the success of the Refill Return Cup scheme so far.
“It’s wonderful to see students, staff and visitors embracing the scheme and saying goodbye to single-use cups.”
The Refill Return Cup scheme is part of a wider effort to reduce waste and promote a more sustainable lifestyle.
City to Sea developed the scheme to tackle the 3.2 billion single-use cups used and thrown away every year in the UK.
Jane Martin, CEO of City to Sea, said: “It is with great pleasure that we celebrate the success of students and staff at Bath Spa University in tackling waste generated by single-use coffee cups.
“A year on from the launch of the Refill Return Cup across the university’s cafes thousands of cups have been prevented from littering the beautiful campus, overflowing the bins or being sent to landfill.
“More people are bringing their own reusable cups, borrowing one of the Refill Return Cups or slowing down and enjoying their drink in a mug while catching up with friends.
“We know that change can be difficult, especially with such an engrained behaviour like grabbing a drink in a single-use cup, but Bath Spa and their students have risen to the challenge, and we expect other universities to follow in their footsteps.”
Jo Stocks, Chair of BSU’s Sustainability Steering Group and Chief Financial Officer at Bath Spa University, added: “At Bath Spa University we cherish the wonderful spaces we live and work in, and we’re committed to protecting them and the wider environment.
“We’re so pleased to take this next step in removing disposable cups from our outlets and to also be making strides towards decarbonising our campuses over the coming years.
“What we’ve achieved in the last year with City to Sea, and continue to do, is bringing us one step closer to our goal.”
